2018 Judges

Sonia Avila

Sr. Manager, Visual Communication, Southwest Airlines

Sonia oversees Southwest Airlines Creative Studio—the company’s full-service internal creative agency. Her proudest accomplishment in the 14 years she’s been with the airline has been building the award-winning creative team responsible for internal and external branding, storytelling and visual communications. Prior to Southwest, Sonia worked as an advertising designer. When she’s not in the office, Sonia enjoys traveling and serving as an official with the United States Figure Skating Association.

Peter Baedita

Senior Creative Director, Norwegian Cruise Lines

Peter leads the in-house design team at Norwegian Cruise Lines in Miami, where he is responsible for visual communications through brand strategy. Before going in house, Peter spent over 20 years with national ad agencies in Boston and Miami. He has worked on campaigns for numerous prestigious brands across a host of industries including Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Lines, Florida Lottery, Sunglass Hut, HSBC, Ryder, Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and Grand Bahama Island. His design distinctions include multiple IHAF Awards and several Best of Show Addy’s.

Chris Bosley

Manager, Creative Services & Marketing Services, Caterpillar

Chris has spent his 20+ year career creating conversations that matter with customers and partners. As the leader of Caterpillar’s award-winning, 75-person in-house creative team, Chris has transitioned the organization from siloed disciplines of marketing execution to a full-service agency that seamlessly links marketing strategy, execution, measurement and optimization. Previously, Chris worked on the client side where he managed a multi-industry, global team of marketers in the successful merger of brand, marketing and sales initiatives.

Maureen Boyle

Senior Director, Creative Services & Events, Trunk Club

At Trunk Club, Maureen provides creative vision, direction and ideation—leading her team to fulfill their mission to create experiences that engage and strengthen audience relationships with the brand. Before joining Trunk Club, she led Team IDEA, the in-house agency at Cars.com where she elevated the brand and established her department as the go-to resource for creative and multimedia as well as event planning and production. Previously, Maureen held various marketing positions at Apartments.com, Jam Theatricals, Tribune Company and TMP Worldwide.

Tyler Brantley

Director of Business Development, StudioNow

Tyler and the team at StudioNow connect leading brands with creative resources around the globe—leveraging technology and production efficiencies to enable Fortune 500 brands to create award-winning content at scale. Prior to StudioNow, he oversaw day-to-day operations for United Mattress. Tyler is one of the founding members of medical-diagnostic startup, Ichor Biotechnologies, where he built a business strategy that turned an academic concept into a commercially viable product. He is also actively involved with the Resilient Families Institute (RFI), helping families build strong healthy relationships.

Spencer Deadrick

EVP/Group Creative Director, Hill Holliday

At Hill Holliday, Spencer oversees work for Frontier Communications, Optum and Robert Half International, and previously supported Bank of America, Dunkin’ Donuts, Merrill Lynch, Budweiser and CVS. Spencer joined Hill Holliday following leadership positions at several nationally acclaimed ad agencies including Mullen and ClarkeGoward. His work has been recognized by the Cannes Lions Festival, The One Show, Communication Arts, Art Director’s Annual, Archive Magazine, the Clio Awards, and the Hatch Awards. He is also an adjunct professor at Boston University’s College of Communication.

Melissa Labrecque

Creative Services Director, Amica Mutual Insurance

As head of Creative Services at Amica Mutual Insurance, Melissa leads in-house design and media production. She also oversees internal and external visual communications as well as the execution of Amica’s brand strategy across the corporation. Prior to joining Amica, Melissa was Advertising Director for Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy, a leading retail chain. Melissa is also an identical twin, a level-one snow board instructor and the mother of two.

Eran Lobel

CEO / Executive Producer, ELEMENT

Eran founded ELEMENT in 1998, growing it to be one of New England’s largest independent full-service production, post-production and integrated content companies—working with internal and external agencies to support brands like Nike, Subway, SNHU, Dunkin Donuts, UMass, VistaPrint, Fidelity, Verizon and the Boston Celtics. Eran leads a talented team of producers, directors and editors as well as writers, designers and strategists to produce award-winning commercials, web videos, television programs and documentaries. Eran is a founding board member of both FILMA and the Massachusetts Production Coalition (MPC) and an active member of both The Ad Club of Boston and City Year/Boston boards.

Hayes McCarthy

Senior Director, Cake Mix Studios, Hasbro

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Hayes leads Hasbro’s internal content creation agency, Cake Mix Studios. A passionate content creator, Hayes loves to combine innovation in technology with brand storytelling. Cake Mix leads creative, production, post production, animation, visual effects and sound for much of Hasbro’s marketing. Hayes is a die-hard Boston sports fan and former resident of Cape Cod (Jaws is his favorite movie) who currently calls Rhode Island his home.

Piper Rankine

Director of Creative, WGBH

At WGBH, Piper uses new and traditional media to strengthen relationships between audiences and their favorite programming. Prior to WGBH, she produced commercial animations for brands such as Cartoon Network, ESPN, Proctor & Gamble and Gillette—realizing right away that the best work surprises and connects emotionally with audiences and making that her goal on every project. As the creative leader of WGBH’s 20-person team, Piper provides direction that results in eye-catching print ads, quirky TV spots and digital media that support WGBH programming locally and nationally.

Brian Siu

Creative Director, PTC

Brian has over 20 years of experience in the entertainment and advertising industries. A graduate of Harvard University, he has worked with major brands including Nissan, Nestlé, Sony, Merck and Dreamworks. Today, Brian is a creative director with the in-house agency at PTC—a technology company that is pioneering what’s possible in augmented reality, digital transformation and Internet of things. Prior to joining PTC and relocating back to the Boston area, Brian worked in Los Angeles and New York for TBWA and Prudential.

Douglas Spencer

President, Spencer Brenneman

Douglas is an author, speaker and brand strategist with over 20 years’ experience in marketing. He has worked with professionals from around the world in a variety of verticals including financial and professional services, SaaS, high tech, education and healthcare. His consulting firm, Spencer Brenneman, helps brands in transition—creating new brands from scratch, retooling existing brands, or bringing two brands together to one. Previously, Douglas led global brand management for Thomson Reuters where he guided the migration of multiple businesses to form a singular brand.

Melanie Walsh

Director of Marketing Excellence and Operations, Biogen

After over a decade in advertising, Melanie stepped into her first in-house agency leadership role in 2011. Tasked with building a creative group for a division of Wolverine Worldwide, she instituted workflow and production processes and hired and managed creative, production and project management staffers. From there, she worked for a period as a consultant helping companies build internal creative and production capabilities, until she was hired by Biogen to establish their in-house team. As head of Biogen’s Creative Center of Excellence, Melanie has built a robust team of creative, project management and account management professionals.